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REV.  DR.  RYDER,  S.  LJf^Y 


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II  K  L  I  V  E  I!  E  D     REFdliE     T  II  K 


iUAiv&it  S0 lie tm 


GEORGETOW 


±D.  C. 


SI 

2 


James  f.  McLaughlin. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

WILLIAM    II.    MOORE,    PRINTER. 
1860. 


W< 


EULOGY  oo2. 2 


KEY.  DR.  RYDER,  S.  J., 


D  E  t.  I  V  K  K  E  D     H  E  F  O  K  E     THE 


Pjiloknic  Societn  of  ©eorgetotmt  College,  §.  C, 


u 

james  f.  Mclaughlin 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

WILLIAM    H.    MOORE,    PRINTER. 
1860. 


X  ' 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
.CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


- .  «j  f 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Georgetown  College,  January  24,  1860. 
Mr.  Jas.  F.  McLaughlin  : 

Dear  Sir  :  Regarding  the  Eulogy  pronounced  by  you  before  the  Philodemic  Society 
of  Georgetown  College  upon  the  late  Rev.  Father  James  Ryder  as  a  production  of  dis- 
tinguished ability  and  eloquence,  and  considering  that  its  publication  would  redound 
not  only  to  your  credit,  but  to  that  of  our  entire  community,  as  coming  from  our  fel- 
low-student, we  respectfully  request  a  copy  of  it  for  that  purpose. 

Very  truly,  your  friends, 

R.  Y.  BROWN, 
*  H.  S.  FOOTE,  Jr., 

D.  S.  HAYNES, 
JNO.  D.  BRYAN, 
WM.  B.  CARR, 
ISAAC  PARSONS, 
JNO.  W.  KIDWELL, 
R.  E.  FOOTE, 
BOWIE  JOHNSON, 
BEN.  S.  JOHNSON, 
M.  LUCKETT, 

E.  NEALE, 

H.  J.  MATHEWS, 
JNO.  F.  MARION, 
J.  W.  NEALE, 
M.     A.  STRONG, 
A.  B.  YOUNG, 
C.  A.  DONEGAN. 

Georgetown  College,  January  25,  1860. 
Gentlemen:  Your  complimentary  favor  under  date  of  January  24,  has  just  been 
placed  in  my  hands.  In  reply,  permit  me  to  offer  you  my  grateful  acknowledgments 
for  the  very  flattering  encomiums  you  have  been  pleased  to  pass  on  my  humble  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Ryder.  I  herewith  submit  the  copy  of  my  remarks,  desultory 
as  they  must  necessarily  be,  from  the  short  time  allowed  me  for  preparation. 
With  best  wishes,  gentlemen,  I  remain, 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

james  f.  Mclaughlin. 

To  Robt.  Y.  Brown  and  others, 

Students  at  Georgetown  College. 


EULOGY. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Philodemic  Society  : 

We  have  assembled  to  perform  a  solemn  and  imposing  cere- 
mony. The  founder  of  our  body,  the  venerated  James  Ryder, 
is  no  more.  At  Philadelphia,  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of 
January,  at  fifteen  minutes  past  ten  o'clock,  he  calmly  termin- 
ated his  mortal  career ;  and  to-day  we  witnessed  the  offices  of 
religion  over  the  dead,  and  swelled  the  funeral  train,  as,  amid 
the  chants  of  holy  men,  it  slowly  passed  to  yonder  graveyard. 
The  profound  sorrow  that  pervades  the  whole  community, 
giving  itself  utterance  in  the  tolling  of  sacred  bells,  in  glowing 
panegyric,  and  in  the  universal  gloom  that  we  behold  around 
us,  conveys  an  earnest  and  eloquent  testimony  to  the  worth  of 
the  distinguished  dead. 

If  there  be  one  visitation  more  than  another  trying  to  the 
heart  of  man ;  one  power  that  sunders  with  relentless  might 
the  ties  consecrated  to  the  affections,  that  power  is  death. 
Yes,  gentlemen,  although  the  spirit  be  soothed  by  the  holy 
consolations  of  faith ;  although  we  may  look  up  to  heaven,  and 
rejoice  in  knowing  that  the  just  man  departed  mingles  forever- 
more  in  the  glorious  hierarchy  of  the  blessed,  there  is  yet  a 
pang  that  every  heart  experiences  when  the  friend  whom  we 
devotedly  loved,  and  the  father  whom  we  all  venerated,  bows 
a  meek  victim  to  the  King  of  Terrors,  and  yields  to  the  un- 
kindly dust  his  honored  body. 

The  life  of  Father  Ryder  was  passed  almost  entirely  in  offi- 
cial and  prominent  positions,  and  it  may  not  on  this  occasion 
prove  uninteresting  to  recur  briefly  to  the  principal  events  of 
that  life,  which,  after  the  vicissitudes  of  sixty  years,  stands 
proudly  forth  at  its  close  without  a  blemish  to  darken  the 
fair  picture. 


James  Ryder  was  born  in  the  city  of  Dublin  on  the  8th  of 
October,  in  the  year  1800.  While  yet  a  child  he  bid  adieu  to 
the  land  of  his  fathers,  and  arriving  in  America,  was  sent  to 
pursue  his  studies  at  the  venerable  college  of  which  we  are 
proud  to  claim  ourselves  the  alumni.  Discovering  at  the  early 
age  of  fifteen  a  vocation  for  the  religious  life,  he  was  upon 
application  received  into  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Within  these 
haunts  of  our  own  boyhood,  five  years  were  passed  in  laying 
up  that  rich  store  of  learning  that  shone  so  conspicuously  in 
his  after  life.  In  1820,  by  virtue  of  his  distinguished  talents, 
he  was  sent  to  Rome  to  prosecute  to  their  completion  his  stu- 
dies in  philosophy  and  theology.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  he  defended,  before  the  assembled  wise  men  of  the  Eter- 
nal City,  a  thesis  embracing  the  whole  range  of  philosophy 
and  theology,  and  from  the  testimony  of  those  who  were  pres- 
ent, acquitted  himself  with  an  ability  that  would  have  done 
honor  to  many  an  older  head,  even  in  Rome  itself.  No  doubt 
the  achievements  of  this  day  made  an  impression  on  the  ardent 
mind  of  the  young  scholar  that  nerved  him  to  renewed  exer- 
tion, and  to  seek,  like  the  victor  at  the  Olympic  games  of  old, 
in  every  succeeding  exhibition  of  his  intellectual  prowess,  a 
more  elevated  position  than  the  last.  Having  completed  his 
studies,  he  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Professor  of  Theology  in 
the  University  of  Spoleto,  where  the  present  Pope  was  at  that 
time  Archbishop.  He  held  this  office  for  two  years,  an  evi- 
dence of  the  high  appreciation  in  which  his  talents  were  held, 
and  after  retiring  from  it  bid  adieu  to  the  sky  of  Italy,  and 
returned  again  to  his  adopted  country. 

The  name  of  Father  Ryder  is  a  household  word  in  George- 
town College.  The  chairs  of  Rhetoric,  Philosophy,  and  The- 
ology were  respectively  occupied  by  this  patron  of  letters,  and 
to  each  he  brought  an  ability  never  surpassed,  and  but  seldom 
equalled.  During  long  years  of  scholastic  discipline  he  applied 
himself  with  untiring  assiduity  to  a  study  of  the  great  masters 
of  oratory ;  and  when  appointed  to  the  presidency  of  the  in- 


6 

stitution,  Gracchus-like,  he  came  forth  from  the  closet  a  ripe 
scholar,  a  polished  gentleman,  and,  greater  than  all,  an  elo- 
quent divine.  He  continued  to  hold  this  responsible  post, 
with  occasional  interruption,  for  nine  years,  a  fact  that  suffi- 
ciently attests  his  administrative  abilities.  During  the  period 
of  Father  Ryder's  connection  with  Georgetown  College,  many 
young  men  of  the  most  distinguished  families  in  the  land  made 
their  studies  in  these  old  halls,  and  not  a  few  who  have  since 
risen  to  eminence  in  Church  and  State,  can  remember  when  he 
occupied  to  them  the  position  of  superior  or  professor.  The 
closing  years  of  his  life  have  been  passed  in  various  parts  of 
the  United  States.  Wherever  he  appeared,  his  lectures  and 
sermons  always  attracted  large  audiences  of  every  denomina- 
tion, and  no  one  who  heard  him  once  will  ever  forget  his  im- 
pressive oratory. 

But  there  was  one  study  to  which  the  whole  force  of 
his  intellect  was  devoted,  and  that  was  the  study  of  man. 
The  peculiar  functions  of  his  ministry,  with  a  mind  like 
his  thoroughly  disciplined  in  philosophical  and  metaphysical 
science,  gave  him  an  insight  into  the  character  of  the  American 
people,  which,  to  an  intense  thinker,  such  as  Dr.  Ryder, 
opened  up  the  whole  frame-work  of  our  social  system,  and 
laid  at  his  command  the  power  of  pointing  out,  if  not  of 
correcting  evils,  wherever  they  were  apparent.  To  matters  of 
business  he  brought  a  spirit  of  earnestness  and  zeal  that  gave 
&  prestige  of  success  to' every  undertaking;  and  with  the  docile 
temper  which  so  strikingly  characterized  him,  was  content  to 
perform  all  duties,  whether  of  small  or  of  great  moment,  with 
equal  diligence  and  address.  All  were  struck  with  the  ac- 
tivity of  his  mind,  the  subtlety  of  his  thoughts,  and  the  power 
and  copiousness  of  his  language  and  ideas.  Every  subject  to 
which  he  gave  his  attention  appeared  under  a  great  variety  of 
aspects.  He  was,  indeed,  the  only  man  I  ever  knew  whose 
ordinary  conversation  gave  an  adequate  idea  of  the  reputation 
he  had  acquired  in  the  world.     If  Father  Ryder  passed  in  a 


stage-coach  from  town  to  town  he  saw  more,  and  profited  more 
by  the  events  and  incidents  of  the  ride  than  many  another 
would  by  a  trip  over  half  the  country.  How  fully  then  must 
he  have  acquired  the  copious  stores  of  knowledge,  always  the 
reward  of  inquiry  and  reflection,  in  the  active  and  busy  avo- 
cations of  a  public  life  of  fifty  years.  Whether  we  behold  him 
in  early  life,  here  at  the  shrine  of  learning,  passing  his  days  in 
the  faithful  discharge  of  a  scholar's  duty  and  wasting  the  mid- 
night lamp  over  the  pages  of  his  classics ;  whether  we  follow 
him  as  he  wends  his  pilgrim  steps  to  the  Holy  City,  and  there, 
under  the  shadow  of  St.  Peter's,  spends  long  years  of  study 
and  meditation,  until,  by  the  achievements  of  his  own  energy, 
and  the  force  of  his  sterling  abilities,  he  appears  before  the  Car- 
dinals, the  Literati,  the  bright  stars  that  shone  in  the  galaxy 
of  wisdom  at  Rome,  a  professed  master  of  sacred  and  profane 
lore,  we  will  always  find  him  the  same  deep  reasoner,  the  same 
invincible  logician,  the  same  clear-headed  man. 

To  a  mind  at  once  philosophical  and  poetical,  the  splendid 
drama  of  antiquity  was  clothed  in  a  thousand  tints  and  color- 
ings, whether  studied  in  the  inspired  pages  of  the  Bible,  or  ad- 
mired and  contemplated  from  the  stand  point  of  the  mighty 
masters  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

To  most  men  the  complicated  events  of  early  times — the  in- 
tricate history  of  Religion,  which  dates  its  origin  from  the 
Patriarchs  of  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia,  and  which  was 
handed  down  from  father  to  son  as  an  element  incompa- 
tible with  the  vices,  the  passions,  the  idolatry  of  man,  be- 
tween which  and  the  world  there  was  a  ceaseless  and  deadly 
warfare,  until  the  Godlike  sacrifice  of  expiation  was  consum- 
mated on  the  cross  of  Calvary — with  most  men,  I  repeat,  all 
these  developments  of  an  antique  age  obtain  credibility  only 
through  the  weight  of  universal  authority.  But,  to  Father 
Ryder,  (and  I  speak  from  the  testimony  of  others,)  the  entire 
annals  of  the  Divine  economy  were  the  constant  study  of  his 
life,  and  to  him  they  appeared  a  simple  chain  of  dependent 


events,  which,  when  unravelled  and  analyzed,  present  to  the 
christian  mind  a  vivid  and  glorious  reality. 

I  have  said  that  to  him  were  unfolded  the  treasures  of  pro- 
fane lore;  and  indeed  our  country,  rejoicing,  as  it  justly  does, 
in  its  distinguished  scholars,  has  not  produced  the  superior  to 
Father  Ryder.  He  was  a  man  who  would  have  adorned  an 
Augustan  age  of  literature,  for  with  a  versatility  of  genius 
equal  to  the  most  arduous  undertakings,  he  pored  with  un- 
wearied application  over  the  works  of  classical  learning,  until 
he  knew  by  rote  the  whole  story  of  Roman  grandeur,  and 
of  Rome's  decay;  until  he  had  trodden,  in  vivid  imagination, 
every  foot  of  ground,  and  was  familiar  with  every  scene  of  glory 
in  those  Isles, 

"  Where  grew  the  arts  of  war  and  peace, 
Where  burning  Sappho  loved  and  sung." 

If  I  were  asked  to-day  whom  he  resembled  in  the  structure 
of  his  intellect;  what  great  master  he  selected  for  his  own  emu- 
lation in  oratory,  I  would  answer  in  the  language  of  one, 
whose  abilities  and  enlarged  experience  entitle  his  opinion  to 
the  highest  consideration — "  no  one  did  he  resemble;  he  was  his 
own  master."  And  were  this  the  occasion,  I  could  easily 
prove,  that  Dr.  Ryder  was  one  of  the  most  original  orators  of 
his  age;  original  in  his  style,  original  in  his  conceptions, 
original  in  every  attribute  that  marks  the  man  of  genius.  Be- 
hold him  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  an  angel,,  ministering  to 
the  wants  of  the  faithful :  from  the  princely  palace  to  the 
laborer's  cot,  gracing  the  one,  at  home  in  the  other :  from  the 
altar  of  God,  to  the  bedside  of  the  dying  sinner;  behold  him 
in  these  daily  rounds  of  duty,  and  you  have  an  epitome  of  the 
life  of  a  Jesuit.  Who  will  take  the  place  of  Father  Ryder  ? 
Who  will  stand  forth,  like  him,  the  expounder  and  friend  of 
constitutional  liberty,  and  the  eloquent  advocate  of  a  higher 
liberty  than  is  even  guarantied  by  our  own  cherished  consti- 
tution?    I  refer  to  the  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

Respected   audience,  we  have  consigned   to  the  tomb   the 


mortal  remains  of  one  of  the  greatest  pulpit  orators  in  the 
Catholic  Church  of  America !  It  is  a  proud  thought  to  his 
countrymen,  and  to  the  sons  of  his  countrymen,  that  he  whose 
religious  admonitions  have  echoed  throughout  the  Representa- 
tive Halls  of  the  nation,  whose  eloquence  and  learning  have 
been  the  theme  of  praise  on  every  tongue  throughout  the  land, 
and  have  claimed  the  tribute  of  flattering  consideration  abroad ; 
to  them  it  is  a  proud  thought,  that  the  man  who  reflected  such 
credit  on  our  institutions  was  himself  an  Irish  adopted  citizen. 
Would  that  my  feeble  voice  could  be  heard  by  all  the  country- 
men of  Dr.  Ryder  throughout  the  land !  I  would  bid  them  re- 
member and  engrave  on  their  hearts  the  life-long  injunctions 
of  the  man  whose  death  we  mourn ;  I  would  bid  them  follow 
the  example  of  him  who  lived  and  died  a  good  patriot,  an  up- 
right citizen,  a  polished  gentleman,  and  an  exemplary  chris- 
tian. While  the  Celtic  blood  of  my  fathers  courses  through 
my  veins — and  I  am  proud  and  happy  to  say  it  is  Celtic — aye, 
all  Celtic — I  shall  ever  congratulate  Irishmen  and  the  sons  of 
Irishmen  that  the  land  of  our  fathers — that  the  land  which  has 
given  to  Europe,  to  America,  to  the  world  a  long  line  of  illus- 
trious orators,  statesmen,  warriors,  and  poets — was  likewise 
the  birth-place  of  him  who  was  borne  hither  to-day  in  all  the 
sad  habiliments  of  the  tomb.  Born  in  Dublin — the  cradle  of 
orators — Dublin,  that  swells  the  roll  of  fame  with  such  names 
as  Sheridan,  Grattan,  and  Edmund  Burke,  how  could  Father 
Ryder  have  been  otherwise  than  the  scholar,  the  gentleman, 
the  orator? 

Methinks  I  see  our  beloved  father  stretched  on  his  dying 
couch,  preparing  for  the  awful  summoning  to  the  bar  of  God. 
The  hope  of  a  blissful  immortality  lights  up  those  well-re- 
membered features.  On  the  rocky  isle  of  St.  Helena  the  dying 
Napoleon  muttered  with  his  last  breath  the  imperial  cry,  "  to 
arms ;"  but,  if  one  desire  under  the  Omnipotent  linger  in  the 
breast  of  the  expiring  Ryder,  methinks  that  desire  is  to  be 
re-united  with  the  kindred  spirits  of  the  departed  great.     I 


10 

seem  to  hear  the  beautiful  words  of  the  Roman,  as  they  escape 
his  dying  lips  :  "  0  praeclarum  diem,  cum  ad  Mud  divinum  ani- 
morum  concilium  coelumque  prognosciscar,  cumque  ex  hac  turha 
et  colluvione  discedam." 

The  wisdom  of  antiquity  affirmed  that  no  man  could  be 
deemed  happy  until  after  death,  and  the  declaration  is  not 
without  foundation  in  truth ;  for  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  all 
men  to  give  to  their  fellows  the  justice  due  to  their  merits. 
He  who  explored  the  western  continent  was  left  after  the 
achievements  of  his  mighty  career  to  die  among  strangers  in 
obscurity  and  poverty.  Edmund  Burke,  in  the  palmiest  days 
of  his  glory,  was  regarded  as  "  a  splendid  madman,"  and  our 
own  Webster  was  held  up  to  the  odium  of  his  countrymen  in 
the  mightiest  efforts  of  his  exalted  genius.  What  great  man 
ever  escapes  the  breath  of  detraction?  What  great  man  ever 
passes  through  the  ordeal  of  captious  criticism  without  incur- 
ring the  impotent  hatred  of  the  malignant,  or  the  harmless 
envy  of  the  inferior  ?  Unfortunately,  the  conflict  of  rival  in- 
terests too  often  warps  the  judgment  of  men,  stifles  their  better 
feelings,  and  causes  them  to  withhold  the  tribute  of  common 
justice  from  the  worthy  and  meritorious.  But  it  is  pleasing 
and  consoling  to  know  that  the  clouds  and  darkness  that  often 
surround  the  living,  dissolve  and  fade  away  with  the  taberna- 
cle of  the  flesh.  When  the  body  is  consigned  to  the  tomb, 
and  the  soul  freed  from  the  dross  of  perishable  matter,  enters 
upon  its  second  and  glorious  existence,  then  may  we  expect 
justice,  the  emanation  of  the  Divine  mind;  then  it  is  that  the 
good  and  great  man  begins  to  live  a  new  and  immortal  life  on 
earth.  Respected  audience,  to  this  general  principle  I  will 
make  the  exception  of  Father  Ryder,  for  he  has  gone  down  to 
the  grave  without  an  enemy,  as  he  was  in  life  without  a  rival. 

We  have  seen  him  filling  honorable  and  distinguished  posi- 
tions in  Rome,  at  a  time,  too,  when  the  arts  and  sciences  were 
reviving  and  expanding,  as  if  the  mercury-wand  were  again 
waved  over  them.     The  doctrines  of  a  false  philosophy  were 


11 

being  fulminated  with  the  might  of  error  across  the  horizon  of 
enlightened  Europe.  Transcendentalists  of  Germany,  with 
Kant  at  their  head,  had  inaugurated  their  vague  and  complex 
systems  upon  the  Continent.  In  the  department  of  Letters,  an 
Angelo  Mai  was  exploring  the  shelves  of  the  Ambrosian  and  the 
Vatican,  and  enriching  the  classical  literature  of  the  age  with  the 
lost  books  of  antiquity,  and,  with  almost  inspired  energies,  res- 
toring to  the  world  the  immortal  treatise  of  Cicero,  De  Repub- 
lica,  an  achievement  that  has  crowned  the  untiring  Jesuit  with 
imperishable  glory.  The  profound  learning  and  elegant  scholar- 
ship of  a  Wiseman  were  just  beginning  to  attract  the  attention 
of  Home,  and  command  the  admiration  of  Europe ;  that  admi- 
ration, which,  with  his  growing  years,  has  warmed  into  an  en- 
thusiasm, and  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  England.  It  was  in  an  atmosphere  like  this,  where  truth 
combatted  error  to  its  overthrow;  amid  such  giants  of  intellect — 
men  that  remind  us  of  the  old  Romans  in  the  days  of  Fabri- 
cius — that  Dr.  Ryder  passed  the  first  years  of  his  manhood,  and 
whence  he  returned  to  his  own  country  imbued  with  the  elegant 
tastes  of  the  age,  and  a  lively  spirit  of  scientific  and  philoso- 
phical research.  Indeed,  to  him  is  Georgetown  College  mainly 
indebted  for  its  present  high  position  among  our  institutions  of 
learning ;  for  at  various  periods  of  his  life  we  find  him  filling 
every  office  of  importance  in  the  government  of  the  College. 
At  one  time,  Disciplinarian,  at  another,  Prefect  of  Schools,  anon 
Vice  President,  President,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  Theology, 
Sacred  Scriptures ;  for  a  time  gracing  the  chair  of  Superior  of 
the  whole  Province,  and  bringing  to  each  the  experience,  the 
wisdom,  the  docility,  the  very  spirit  of  refined  culture  and  ex- 
alted piety  : 

"  Oh,  who  that  gallant  spirit  shall  resume, 

Leap  from  Eurotas'  banks,  and  call  thee  from  the  tomb?" 

The  Philodemic  Society  may  well  mourn,  on  this  solemn  oc- 
casion, for  the  first,  the  brightest  name  on  its  distinguished 
roll  is  the  name  of  James  Ryder  !     The  stranger  who  visits 


12 

the  College,  beholds  the  constitution  by  which  our  body  is 
governed,  as  it  was  framed  by  our  founders;  and  he  whose 
mortal  remains  have  just  been  composed  to  rest  was  the  foun- 
der, the  first  President  of  the  Association.  Gentlemen  of  the 
Society,  this  scene  is  one  that  should  impress  us  all.  As  a 
body,  we  to-day  mourn  the  loss  of  our  father.  What  absent 
Philodemician,  in  the  north,  in  the  south,  be  he  where  he  may, 
that  turns  not  with  melancholy  thoughts  towards  his  boyhood 
home  to-day?  Yes,  my  friends  and  fellow-members,  the  old 
Philodemic  Society  comes  back  to  his  mind;  the  friends  and 
companions  of  his  early  life  are  around  him;  he  thinks  of  the 
evening  debate,  the  gathering  in  yonder  chamber;  again 
Father  Ryder  occupies  the  chair  ;  again  the  scenes  of  the  past, 
thoughts  that  were  buried  for  years,  come  crowding  upon  his 
mind;  but  ua  change  comes  over  the  spirit  of  his  dream;" 
the  sad  realities  of  the  present  moment  break  upon  him,  and 
gentlemen,  as  the  tear  rises  to  our  own  eyes,  the  sympathy  of 
thousands  throughout  the  land  accords  the  same  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  same  revered  person.  Could  that  inanimate 
body  rise  from  the  grave,  and  speak  to  this  assemblage  again, 
he  would  bid  us  weep  not  for  him,  rather  weep  for  ourselves, 
and  prepare  for  the  day  of  our  own  dissolution.  Resident 
members  of  the  Philodemic  Society,  let  us  ever  adhere  to  the 
wise  precepts  and  wholesome  lessons  of  our  founder,  and  first 
President.  By  this  we  will  evince  our  best  love  for  the  de- 
ceased ;  by  this  we  will  perpetuate  a  monument  to  his  memory, 
more  durable  than  bronze  or  marble,  a  monument  here  in 
Georgetown  College;  here,  where  he  first  offered  his  heart  and  his 
life  to  God,  and  where  after  the  good  fight  of  three-score  years, 
his  worn-out  body  has  been  laid  away  in  the  stilly  recesses  of 
the  grave ;  and  gentlemen,  that  monument  will  be  the  Philo- 
demic Society. 

Reverend  fathers  and  members  of  the  Jesuit  order,  I  would 
address  to  you  a  few  words  of  condolence  and  sympathy  on 
this  melancholy  occasion.    You  have  brought  home  the  remains 


13 

of  Father  Ryder  from  the  scene  of  his  holy  labors ;  you  have 
brought  him  back  with  all  "  his  blushing  honors"  strewed  upon 
his  coffin ;  you  have  laid  his  bones  to-day  by  the  side  of  those  of 
Father  George,  the  beloved  friend  of  his  long  life,  congenial 
company  in  death.  I  saw  him  two  years  ago,  when  he  bid 
the  dying  Fenwick  farewell,  and  the  tear  stole  to  my  eye,  and 
I  turned  away  in  my  emotion,  for  it  was  a  touching  scene  to 
behold.  The  one  had  joined  your  order  at  the  tender  age  of 
thirteen,  the  other  when  two  years  older.  Hand  in  hand  they 
journeyed  up  the  hill  of  life.  In  America,  in  Europe,  wherever 
the  one  was,  there  the  other  would  be  found.  Shining  lights 
in  the  Church,  they  have  gone  down  to  the  grave  full  of  years 
and  full  of  honor.  Many  a  pilgrim  will  come  in  after  years  to 
this  old  home-house  of  the  Jesuits,  and  ask  for  Father  Ryder 
and  for  Father  Fenwick,  and  when  told  they  sleep  together  in 
death,  bend  his  sorrowful  steps  yonder  to  the  graveyard,  and 
there,  withdrawn  from  the  profane  gaze,  sit  down  and  weep 
over  their  union  in  the  grave.  You  have  every  reason,  rever- 
end gentlemen,  to  be  proud  of  Father  Ryder.  He  has  left  his 
impress  on  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  He  was,  it  is  true,  a 
simple  Jesuit,  but  that,  indeed,  was  much.  Had  he  been  a 
man  of  the  world,  what  office  in  the  State  that  would  not  have 
had  its  honor  reflected  back  in  James  Ryder  ?  What  dignity 
too  exalted  for  him  even  in  the  Church  itself?  If  merit  be 
the  criterion  and  infallible  index  of  the  grade  a  man  should 
occupy,  surely  then  to  Dr.  Ryder  we  may  assign  a  most  prom- 
inent place  in  the  Church  or  in  the  State.  But  he  was  only  a 
simple  Jesuit,  and  therein  consisted  the  moral  heroism  of  his 
life.  "  Show  me  the  being,"  in  his  own  expressive  words, 
"  show  me  the  being  who  has  learned  to  sacrifice  self  for  the 
good  of  others,  and  to  spurn  the  pleasures  of  this  world,  and  I 
will  show  you  one  who  has  already  attained  the  spotless  per- 
fection of  an  angel."  He  was  obedient  to  others  as  a  child  to 
a  cherished  parent ;  nor  was  this  obedience  an  empty  name,  a 
mere  conventional  form,  inserted  to  round  a  sentence  or  grace 


14 

the  Institutes  of  St.  Ignatius.  The  whole  life  of  Father  Ryder 
is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  power,  the  virtue,  the  efficacy 
of  this  holy  obedience.  Ordered  by  his  superior  to  assume 
the  management  of  this  Institution,  he  obeys ;  ordered  by  his 
superior  to  Frederick,  Maryland,  to  teach  little  children  their 
first  rudiments,  he  obeys ;  ordered  by  his  superior  to  depart 
for  the  distant  and  unsettled  regions  of  California,  he  obeys 
willingly,  cheerfully  obeys  the  order  of  those  above  him,  no 
matter  what  the  tax  on  his  constitution ;  if  his  life  be  forfeited 
he  obeys  the  call  of  duty;  and  with  this  vow  of  obedience 
he  has  taken  two  others,  the  vows  of  Chastity  and  Poverty. 
God  knows  he  kept  them  all.  Thousands  throughout  the  land 
would  bear  willing  testimony  to  his  observance  of  his  holy 
vows,  but  what  testimony  is  needed?  His  whole  life  is  a 
living,  irrefutable  testimony  of  his  spotless  and  virginal  purity. 

Respected  audience,  there  is  much  more  that  could  be 
spoken  on  the  present  occasion  of  the  man  of  his  times,  his 
genial  temperament,  his  social  relations,  but  I  leave  these 
topics  for  abler  hands.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  day  is  not 
distant  when  we  may  behold  some  public  monument  to  Dr. 
Ryder's  memory.  The  biography  of  such  a  man  would  exert 
a  powerful  influence  for  good  on  the  rising  generation,  and 
prove  an  invaluable  acquisition  to  American  literature. 

And  now,  ere  I  bring  my  desultory  remarks  to  a  close,  I 
would  recall  a  few  personal  recollections  of  the  dead.  At  my 
mother's  breast  I  received  my  love  and  devotion  for  Father 
Ryder,  and  never  for  one  moment  of  my  life  have  I  had  cause 
to  regret  that  early  love,  and  that  early  devotion.  I  was  en- 
tered in  this  venerable  Institution  almost  a  child,  and  during 
Father  Ryder's  second  incumbency  of  the  Presidential  chair, 
I  well  remember  the  fatherly  smile,  that  went  straight  to  my 
heart,  and  the  kindly  expressions  with  which  he  bid  me  wel- 
come to  Georgetown  College.  Under  various  circumstances 
it  has  been  alike  my  pleasure  and  fortune  to  have  been 
thrown  much  in  the  company  of  Father  Ryder.     I  have  seen 


15 

him  mingling  in  the  circles  of  the  learned,  where  revered 
wisdom  held  its  mild  sway;  I  have  seen  him  among  the 
young,  the  gay,  the  brilliant,  in  the  felicitous  moments  of  his 
sparkling  wit,  and  rare  good  humor,  and  never  was  that  wit 
poisoned  with  the  shaft  of  malice ;  never  was  that  pleasant 
raillery  employed  for  uncharitable  ridicule ;  never,  never  did 
I  hear  an  expression  fall  from  his  lips  unbecoming  a  gentle- 
man and  a  christian.  His  heart  was  as  tender  as  a  woman's, 
and  susceptible  to  the  finest  feelings  of  our  nature.  I  have 
seen  him  on  a  cold  winter's  night  come  forth  from  his  own 
abode,  and  hasten  on  to  the  house  of  death.  The  eyes  of  the 
dying  man  brightened  with  a  sickly  lustre  as  the  gray-haired 
priest  entered  the  chamber,  where  the  dark  shadow  of  death 
was  hovering.  The  winds  of  winter  moaned  a  plaintive  dirge 
without ;  a  stricken  family  stood  in  impotent  grief  around  the 
bed-side  of  the  dying  son  and  brother ;  and  the  priest — God 
bless  him — with  all  the  love  and  tenderness  of  a  mother,  ad- 
ministered the  saving  rights  of  religion  to  the  soul  departing, 
and  prayed  with  uplifted  hands  as  the  spark  of  life  went 
calmly  forth  from  the  earthly  habitation  of  the  flesh.  That 
chamber — that  scene  can  never  be  erased  from  the  tablets  of 
memory,  for  the  dying  man  was  of  my  own  flesh  and  blood. 

But  a  few  weeks  have  elapsed  since,  in  his  sacred  character 
of  priest,  Father  Ryder  passed  three  memorable  days  among 
us.  We  all  remember,  as  the  things  of  yesterday,  his  admo- 
nitions, his  eloquence,  the  very  expressions  with  which  he  en- 
forced his  instructions.  And  to-day  he  is  among  us  again,  but, 
alas  !  how  changed.  When  he  told  us  in  glowing  language  of 
the  uncertainty  of  human  life,  little  did  he  think  that  a  few 
weeks  would  verify  in  his  own  person  those  words  of  solemn 
significance.  But  let  us  not  mourn,  respected  audience,  let 
us  rather  rejoice  in  his  translation  to  a  better  life,  and  remem- 
ber that  the  death  of  the  just  man  is — 

"A  death-like  sleep, 

A  gentle  wafting  to  immortal  life." 


16 

There  is  a  silent  eloquence  in  the  death  of  a  good  man  that 
finds  its  way  to  all  hearts. 

After  the  conflict  of  long,  long  years,  comes  the  earthly 
separation  of  the  mortal  frame  and  the  soul  immortal ,  when 
the  latter  is  summoned  "before  the  great  Judge,  who  calls 
upon  that  soul  for  the  tenor  of  a  well-spent  life."  It  is  the 
salutary  lesson  of  a  stern  reality.  May  it  be  the  Mentor  that 
shall  guide  our  own  footsteps  to  the  goal  of  a  blissful  immor- 
tality, and  a  re-union  with  the  loved  ones  who  have  gone 
before  us : 

"  Henceforth  I  learn  that  suffering  for  truth's  sake 

Is  fortitude  to  highest  tictory, 

And,  to  the  faithful,  death  the  gate  of  life." 


APPENDIX 


From  the  Catholic  Herald  and  Visitor,  Philadelphia. 

FUNERAL  OF  THE  Rev.  Dr.  RYDER. 

SERMON    BY    REV.    WM.    OHARA,    D.    I). 

On  Saturday  morning  last,  the  funeral  obsequies  of  Rev.  Jas.  Ryder,  D.  D.,  S.  J., 
took  place  in  St.  Joseph's  church.  The  church  was  thronged  by  an  immense  number 
of  persons.  Immediately  after  the  announcement  of  his  death,  the  edifice  was  draped 
in  deep  mourning.  The  remains,  dressed  in  the  alb,  amice,  and  dalmatics,  were  laid 
in  the  coffin,  and  placed  within  the  sanctuary,  surrounded  by  a  number  of  lighted  can- 
dles. Clasped  in  his  hands  was  the  chalice,  on  which  was  placed  the  patena.  The 
features  wore  a  very  natural  appearance,  and  were  gazed  upon  by  an  immense  number 
of  persons,  both  on  Friday  and  Saturday.  The  Sanctuary  was  literally  covered  with 
the  appropriate  manifestations  of  mourning,  and  along  the  galleries  of  the  church  was 
a  strip  of  black  cloth,  relieved  at  intervals  with  beautiful  white  rosettes.  The  number 
who  visited  the  church,  from  Thursday  evening  until  Saturday  morning,  could  not 
have  been  less  than  ten  thousand  persons. 

On  Saturday  morning  the  funeral  ceremonies  took  place.  At  about  9£  o'clock  the 
following  clergymen  entered  the  Sanctuary:  Rev.  Fathers  McMonigle,  of  the  Cathe- 
dral ;  Ward,  Sourin,  Blox,  De  Wolf,  and  Lachat,  of  St.  John's ;  Stanton,  Harnett,  and 
Gallagher,  of  St.  Augustine's ;  Martin,  of  St.  Mary's ;  Keirns  and  McLoughlin,  of  St. 
Ann's;  Dunn  and  Kinehan,  of  St.  Theresa's;  Kean,  of  St.  Gregory's  ;  O'Haran  and 
McAnany,  of  St.  Paul's;  Whelan,  Cantwell,  and  O'Reilly,  of  St.  Phillip's  ;  Toner,  of  the 
Assumption;  Kelly,  of  St.  Malachi's ;  Dr.  Nicola,  of  St.  Alphonsus ,  Mulholland,  of 
Manayunk;  Biggio,  of  Bordentown  ;  Bowles,  of  Burlington  ;  and  Welsh,  of  Ivy  Mills. 

Rev.  J.  F.  Brannagan,  of  St.  Patrick's,  acted  as  Master  of  Ceremonies. 

The  office  of  the  dead  was  recited,  led  by  Rev.  Father  Dominic,  of  Germantown,  and 
Rev.  Father  De  Wolfe,  of  St.  Joseph's  College.  High  Mass  was  celebrated,  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Wood  being  celebrant,  assisted  by  Deacons  of  Honor:  Rev.  Father  Stanton,  of 
St.  Augustine's,  and  Rosenbauer,  of  New  York ;  Deacons  of  the  Mass,  Rev.  Fathers 
Dominic,  of  Germantown,  and  O'Connor,  of  West  Philadelphia. 

Ohnewald's  Mass  was  sung  by  the  choir,  which  was  a  powerful  and  effective  one. 

The  funeral  sermon  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Wm.  O'Hara,  D.  D.,  superior  of  the  The- 
ological Seminary  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo. 

[From  the  Catholic  Herald  and  Visitor.} 
BURIAL  OF  THE  REV.  JAMES  RYDER,  S.  J. 
Scarcely  had  a  week  elapsed  since  the  death  of  our  beloved  Bishop,  when  Almighty 
God,  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  has  seen  proper  to  close  the  mortal  career  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Ryder. 


18 

Nut  in  Philadelphia  alone,  but  throughout  the  whole  country,  has  this  news  come 
to  sorrowing  hearts.  No  where,  however,  has  his  loss  been  more  sincerely  felt  and 
deplored  than  at  the  home  of  his  childhood — Georgetown  College.  And  as  a  touching 
testimonial  of*  this  deep-felt  grief,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Early  and  Stonestreet,  respectively 
Presidents  of  Georgetown  and  Gonzaga  Colleges,  visited  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose 
of  conveying  the  body  of  their  deceased  brother  to  Georgetown,  where  it  might  rest 
amid  those  haunts  that  he  loved  so  well.  The  body  arrived  at  Washington  on  the 
morning  of  the  19th,  in  charge  of  the  two  Rev.  gentlemen  mentioned  above,  accompa- 
nied by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Lilly,  Blox,  and  Mulledy,  of  Philadelphia.  Trinity  Church, 
which  nestles  at  the  foot  of  the  college  hill,  was  the  place  chosen  for  the  performance 
of  the  ceremonies.  The  altar  and  sanctuary  were  draped  with  plain  black  muslin. 
Long  before  the  bell  began  to  toll  the  funeral  hour,  the  galleries  and  floor  of  the 
church  were  thronged.  Yet  we  witnessed  not  the  least  disturbance  or  inattention  in 
this  multitude.  All  seemed  to  be  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  and 
as  they  moved  along  the  aisles  to  take  the  last  look  at  the  corpse  of  the  beloved  dead, 
we  saw  many  a  tearful  eye  and  throbbing  bosom. 

Rev.  Mr.  Villiger  (Father  Provincial)  celebrated  Mass,  assisted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Blenkiu- 
sop  as  deacon,  and  Mr.  McDermott  as  sub-deacon.  Within  the  sanctuary  there  knelt 
some  twenty  clergymen,  among  whom  we  recognized  Rev.  Messrs.  Early,  (President 
of  Georgetown  College,)  Stonestreet,  (ex-Father  Provincial,)  Nota,  (occupant  of  the  chair 
of  Philosophy  at  the  College.)  Fulton  and  Welch,  (Professors  of  Rhetoric  and  Poetry.) 
Maguire,  Lynch,  and  Boyle,  &c. 

The  choir,  although  wanting  the  sweet  and  soft  melody  of  the  female  voice,  was 
excellent.     Mr.  French  sang  alto. 

After  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  the  Rev.  Chas.  I.  White,  of  St.  Matthew's,  Washing- 
ton, ascended  the  pulpit,  and  delivered  a  glowing  eulogium  upon  the  deceased.  He 
spoke  of  him  as  the  valiant  soldier  of  the  Cross  and  zealous  son  of  St.  Ignatius,  and 
Christian  patriot.  He  dwelt  upon  the  intrepid  heroism  that  he  ever  displayed  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties,  whether  it  was  in  defending  Constitutional  liberty  against  the 
attacks  of  wild  fanaticism,  or  in  upholding  the  religion  of  his  fathers  amid  its  enemies. 
On  the  lonely,  often  dangerous,  sick  call,  he  ever  bore  himself  as  a  ministering  angej 
of  mercy;  now,  he  brings  tranquillity  and  peace  to  the  wretched  and  miserable;  now. 
by  his  gentle  and  soothing  words,  infusing  hope  and  repentance  into  the  breast  of  the 
despairing  sinner.  Who  that  remembers  the  visitation  of  the  cholera,  will  ask  for  an 
example  of  his  self-sacrificing  heroism  ?  When  hundreds  were  dying  in  our  streets  ; 
when  father  and  mother,  sister  and  brother  fled  from  the  infected  one  of  the  family, 
Father  Rider,  like  a  visitant  angel  of  Divine  love,  hastened  to  tend  the  stricken  and 
deserted  one,  ministering  to  his  wants  with  more  than  motherly  kindness,  even  until 
the  cold  damps  of  death  are  gathering  on  the  brow  of  the  sick  man,  then,  at  the  risk 
of  his  own  life,  bends  down  to  hear  the  tale  of  sin  and  crime.  Yet  it  was  not  on  the 
errand  of  mercy  alone  that  his  entire  self-abnegation  shines  forth.  In  the  midst  of 
these  sublime  employments  of  his  duty,  he  turns  to  obey  his  Superior's  order  of  dedi- 
cating himself  to  the  class-room,  of  bowing  down  the  mighty  powers  of  his  intellect 
to  the  humble  office  of  instructing  children.  And  in  this  unassuming  mission  he  was 
ever  true  to  the  high  responsibility  incurred  by  the  preceptor.  Of  this  there  are  evi- 
dences in  every  State  in  which  a  pupil  of  his  may  reside.  He  had  ever  before  his  eyes 
the  great  truth,  that  knowledge,  without  religion,  is  a  curse,  a  poison,  blighting  and 
destroying  everything  within  its  influence.  In  a  word,  his  whole  career  was  a  beau- 
t  iful  epitome  of  a  Jesuit's  life.     Striving  after  Christian  perfection,  he  renounced  self— 


19 

a  serpent  that  is  hidden  in  the  wreath  that  crowns  the  brow  of  the  Grecian  and  Roman 
hero — making  all  his  boasted  heroism  but  a  grand  mockery  and  glorious  cheat,  when 
compared  with  that  displayed  by  the  followers  of  Jesus,  the  meek  and  humble  of  heart; 
and,  as  a  consequence  of  this  renunciation  of  self,  the  three  cardinal  virtues — Faith, 
Hope  and  Charity — have  twined  themselves,  as  an  escutcheon,  around  the  name  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  The  Rev.  orator  then  concluded  by  calling  upon  the  assembled 
Priests — the  brother  Levites  of  the  deceased — to  whom  he  has  left  his  almost  Apos- 
tolic zeal,  as  also  upon  the  people,  for  whom  his  life  has  been  a  continual  sacrifice, 
never  to  forget  him  in  their  prayers.  Yes!  his  angel  form,  surrounded  by  those  souls 
whom  he  has  been  instrumental  in  saving,  and  who  are  now  happy  in  the  heavenly 
court  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  may  be  bending  down  from  above  upon  us,  perhaps 
praying  that  our  good  God  may,  in  his  infinite  mercy,  grant  us  the  grace  to  die  as  he 
himself  died. 

The  students  then  formed  themselves  into  a  procession,  and  moved  on  towards  the 
burial-ground.  The  streets  were  crowded  with  spectators.  And  as  the  silver  cross 
at  the  head  of  the  procession  was  borne  along,  the  people  bowed  their  heads  in  res- 
pectful silence.  But  the  most  impressive  scene  was  witnessed  within  the  College 
gates,  as  the  procession  passed  through  a  grove  of  pine  trees  and  orange-blossom 
hedges.  The  solemn  chaunting  of  the  Priests,  blending  in  harmony  with  the  slow 
and  sorrowful  tolling  of  the  church  bell,  was  caught  up  by  the  passing  wind,  and 
seemed  to  die  away  like  the  responsive  wailing  of  a  far-off  choir.  The  barren  willow 
tree  waved  and  rustled  its  long,  mournful  branches,  as  the  coffin  was  borne  beneath 
them  to  the  upturned  earth.  The  solemn  service  of  the  burial  was  sung,  and  the  body 
was  lowered  into  its  last  resting-place.  There  he  sleeps  beside  the  grave  of  Father 
Fenwick — the  friend  of  his  youth,  manhood,  and  old  age.  He  has  been  called  to  his 
heavenly  home  but  two  years  before  Dr.  Ryder;  now  their  bodies  lie  together,  while 
their  spirits  range  the  land  of  the  Blessed.  M.   A.  S. 


From.  '•  The  Press,"  (Philadelphia.) 

DEATH  OF  THE  REV.  JAMES  RYDER,  D.  D. 

Another  distinguished  divine  in  the  Catholic  Church  has  gone.  Before  the  Catholic 
community  has  had  time  to  recover  from  the  shock  received  in  the  sudd-m  death  of 
Bishop  Neumann,  we  are  called  upon  to  record  the  scarcely  less  sudden  .summons  of 
another  of  their  most  eminent  ministers.  The  Rev.  James  Ryder,  D.  D.,  died  at  the 
parsonage  of  St.  Joseph's  Church  yesterday  morning,  after  a  brief  illness,  which,  until 
a  short  time  before  his  death,  although  severe,  was  not  regarded  as  alarming  by  his 
friends.  His  disease  was  inflammation  of  the  bowels.  Few  men,  in  the  Church  or  out 
of  it,  have  left  a  purer  record  than  Dr.  Ryder.  By  the  people  of  his  denomination  in 
this  community,  and  in  fact  throughout  the  Union,  he  was  greatly  esteemed  both  for 
his  eminent  services  in  the  Church  and  the  honorable  relations  he  sustained,  at  differ- 
ent periods  of  his  life,  to  some  of  our  first  institutions  of  learning.  More  than  this: 
by  those  that  knew  him  intimately  he  was  as  much  beloved  for  his  suavity  of  manner 
as  he  was  respected  for  his  commanding  ability.  He  was  at  once  a  thorough  scholar, 
an  urbane  gentleman,  and  a  devoted  and  zealous  Christian.  In  his  death  the  Church 
has  lost  one  of  her  most  eloquent  and  learned  Doctors  of  Divinity,  the  people  of  his 
charge  a  faithful  pastor,  and  the  society  in  which  he  moved  an  ornament  hard  to  be 
replaced.  In  the  Order  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  member,  (the  Society  of 
Jesus,)  he  occupied  a  prominent  position. 


20 

BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

The  Rev.  James  Ryder,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Dublin  in  October,  1800.  He  came  to 
America  a  youth,  and  soon  after  entered  Georgetown  College,  an  institution  with 
which  he  was  at  intervals  officially  connected  during  a  large  portion  of  his  life.  In 
1815  he  entered  among  the  Jesuits  as  a  novice  of  the  order,  and  during  the  ensuing 
five  years  prosecuted  his  philosophical  studies  in  the  college  above  referred  to.  In 
1820  he  went  to  Rome,  where,  for  five  years,  he  was  occupied  in  the  study  of  theol- 
ogy. It  was  during  this  period  that  he  made  his  defence  of  all  theology  in  the 
Roman  College.  After  his  ordination,  in  1825,  he  was  appointed  a  teacher  of  Theology 
and  Sacred  Scripture  in  the  College  of  Spoleto,  where  the  present  Pope  was  then 
Archbishop.  At  the  close  of  three  years  he  resigned  this  position,  and  returned  to 
America.  The  ripened  attainments  which  he  had  acquired  during  his  absence  ren- 
dered his  presence  at  Georgetown  desirable,  and  he  accordingly  entered  the  college  a 
second  time,  not  as  a  pupil,  but  as  a  teacher  of  theology  and  philosophy. 

He  was  soon  after  appointed  to  the  vice-presidency  of  the  college,  which  position 
he  held  for  several  years,  having  twice  visited  Philadelphia  during  the  interval,  and 
spent  some  time  here  in  a  pastoral  relation.  It  was  upon  one  of  these  occasions  that 
he  attended  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  St.  John's  Church,  Thirteenth  street, 
above  Chestnut. 

With  regard  to  Father  Ryder's  claim  to  the  title  of  D.  D.,  it  may  not  be  generally 
known  that  all  Professed  Jesuits  are  acknowledged  on  the  continent  of  Europe  as 
Doctors  of  Divinity  ;  and  that  one  of  the  requisites  of  becoming  a  Professed  Jesuit  is, 
that  he  shall  be  able  to  teach  theology  and  philosophy  in  any  university;  another  is, 
that  besides  taking  the  three  ordinary  vows  of  Poverty,  Chastity,  and  Obedience,  he 
must  vow  obedience  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff*  to  go  to  any  foreign  mission,  and  to  re- 
fuse all  ecclesiastical  honors. 

In  1839,  during  the  erection  of  St.  Joseph's  Church,  in  Willing's  alley,  Dr.  Ryder 
was  pastor  of  that  congregation,  as  he  had  in  fact  been  for  a  short  period  while  the}' 
yet  worshipped  in  the  old  building  on  the  site  of  their  present  large  and  comfortable 
edifice.  The  corner-stone  of  this  church,  it  may  be  added,  was  laid  by  Dr.  Ryder. 
who  preached  in  St.  Mary's  on  the  occasion.  The  procession  to  the  church  on  that 
day,  and  the  solemnities  attending  it,  are  well  remembered  by  many  of  our  citizens. 
Toward  the  close  of  1839  he  assumed  the  pastoral  charge  of  St.  John's  Church,  in 
Frederick,  Maryland. 

In  1840,  his  eminent  qualifications  for  the  post,  no  less  than  his  long  and  honorable 
connection  with  the  institution  itself,  pointed  to  Dr.  Ryder  as  the  most  suitable  person 
to  fill  the  president's  chair  of  the  college,  which  he  did  for  six  years.  During  this 
period,  extending  from  1840  to  1846,  as  the  chief  governing  officer  of  Georgetown 
College,  he  had  many  young  men  under  his  charge,  who  have  since  risen  to  honorable 
eminence  in  professional  life,  and  the  sons  of  not  a  few  of  the  first  men  in  the  nation. 

Dr.  Ryder  thrice  visited  Europe  on  business  for  the  order  of  which  he  is  so  distin- 
guished a  member.  It  was  after  his  return  from  Europe  the  second  time  that  he  was 
elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  Holy  Cross,  the  Roman  Catholic  College  located  at 
Worcester,  Massachusetts.  Subsequent  to  this,  he  was  re-elected  to  the  presidential 
chair  of  Georgetown  College,  in  which  capacity  he  continued  for  three  years  more. 

In  1853  he  went  to  California  on  business  for  the  Church.  While  there  his  health 
gave  way,  and  he  sailed  for  Havana,  where  he  remained  a  short  period,  and  after 
spending  a  few  months  in  the  Southern  States,  where  he  delivered  a  popular  course  of 
lectures,  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and,  four  years  ago,  was  made  pastor  to  St.  John's 


21 

Church,  in  this  city,  where  he  continued  for  about  two  years,  at  the  close  of  which  he 
went  to  Alexandria,  where,  for  nearly  two  years  more,  he  occupied  the  position  of  as- 
sistant pastor.  Returning  again  to  this  city,  he  has,  for  the  past  few  months,  acted  as 
assistant  pastor  of  the  church  at  which  he  expired  yesterday  morning. 

As  already  indicated,  Dr.  Ryder  was  in  his  sixtieth  year  at  his  death.  He  was  of 
medium  height,  and  rather  corpulent.  His  hair,  which  was  thin  and  quite  white,  was 
combed  behind  his  ears,  giving  his  features,  in  repose,  an  air  of  peculiar  docility.  His 
complexion  was  florid.  His  face,  which  was  not  unlike  the  portraits  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  though  full,  and  indicative  of  a  marked  preponderance  of  the  vital  forces,  was 
delicate  in  outline,  as  it  was  also  youthful  in  appearance,  and  redolent  with  good 
nature,  though  he  had  a  laughing  dark  eye,  not  incapable  of  flashing  fiercer  things 
than  the  unadulterated  milk  of  human  kindness. 

His  address  in  the  pulpit  was  at  once  that  of  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar — eminently 
dignified,  yet  not  haughty  or  overbearing.  He  was  graceful,  and  apparently  as  fasti- 
dious in  his  tastes  as  a  woman.  Culture  and  refinement  always  marked  his  discourse- 
also,  the  strictest  conformity  to  the  philosophical  rules  of  rhetorical  propriety.  This 
peculiarity  is  probably  attributable  to  his  long  connection  with  one  of  our  first  insti- 
tutions of  learning.  He  was  a  most  methodical  thinker.  He  scarcely  ever  uttered  a 
sentence  without  a  purpose.  For  an  extempore  speaker,  he  was  really  remarkable  in 
this  particular.  Without  manifesting  any  great  anxiousness  to  make,  his  hearers  be- 
lieve that  what  he  preached  was  true,  he  usually  disposed  of  the  various  points  of  his 
argument  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  the  conclusion  he  desired  irresistible.  He 
laid  down  a  proposition  with  so  much  gentleness,  that,  however  unpalatably  it  might 
at  first  seem  in  the  hands  of  another,  he  secured  a  hearing,  and  then  proceeded  with 
the  most  insinuating  arguments  to  establish  his  point.  In  this  persuasive  power  he 
was  a  model  of  a  pulpit  orator. 

He  had  a  soft,  mild  way  of  pronouncing  his  words,  quite  in  keeping  with  his  benev- 
olent expression  of  face.  In  his  gesticulation  he  was  no  less  exact  and  precise  than 
he  was  in  framing  his  sentences  and  arranging  his  arguments.  In  the  former,  his  right 
arm  was  mainly  employed ;  the  left  occasionally,  although  the  pulpit  use  of  neither  was 
such  as  might  not  be  employed  with  propriety  in  animated  private  discourse.  It  was 
not  necessary  to  hear  him  long  to  ascertain  that  it  was  sense,  not  sound,  by  which  he 
sought  to  impress  his  listeners.  His  style  of  speaking,  upon  the  whole,  may  be  des- 
cribed as  conversational,  though  so  far  as  it  regards  ability  to  present  ideas  in  the 
most  fitting  terms  to  be  clearly  understood,  he  was  truly  eloquent.  As  a  word  painter 
he  was  more  successful  in  moving  the  heart  than  in  exciting  the  imagination.  In  his 
delivery  he  varied  from  the  slow — bordering  on  the  monotonous — to  the  warm  and 
and  more  rapid,  but  was  never  so  precipitate  as  to  interfere  with  distinct  articulation. 
His  sermons  were  by  no  means  devoid  of  ornament,  but  these  flowed  naturally  from 
the  soul  and  ardor  of  his  subject,  and  not  from  the  design  to  please  the  ear. 


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